City of Richmond Receives $10,000 “Love Your Block” Grant

Service As A StrategyService As A Strategy Richmond’s Newsletter on Volunteerism and Civic Engagement

Vol. 1, Issue 2—March 2012

“N2N Making Strides in 2012”

On

The City of Richmond’s Neighbor-To-Neighbor (N2N) Initiative was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from Service Nation, in partner-ship with the Home Depot Foundation, in the form of Home-Depot gift cards toward the im-plementation of a Love Your Block Program. Love Your Block is a tested, high-impact ser-vice strategy in which the Mayor’s office en-gages with community members in revitalizing their neighborhoods one block at a time. It aligns perfectly with three elements of our city’s Balanced Scorecard: Unique and Inclusive Com-munities, Community Safety, and Well-Being Sustainability and the Natural Environment. The strategy that the City of Richmond will use includes: (1) taking a holistic, city-wide ap-proach by targeting each of the city’s nine coun-cil districts for improvement, (2) promoting neighborhood buy-in from residents before po-tential projects are finalized and (3)creating partnerships to make sure that Love Your Block can continue after the initial grant period. By way of conversations and collaborations with Council members, neighborhood civic asso-ciations and key non-profits, N2N’s goal is that

multiple communities across the City’s nine districts will have the opportunity to share and leverage strategic projects to “Build a Better Richmond” one block at a time. Stay tuned for more information on the Love Your Block Initiative and how you can be a part of it.

Note 2: The inaugural newslet-

ter does not yet capture volun-

teer hours from July-December

of this fiscal year. As hours are

reported, we will share them in

subsequent issues of this news-

letter.

Page 2

Department Number of Monthly Volunteer Hours Volunteer Hours YTD

Employees (Previous Month) (July 2011-June 2012)

CLASS I: 1-20 EMPLOYEES Hours below to begin being listed in the newsletters’ April edition

Treasurer’s Office 4

Press Secretary to the Mayor 5

Minority Business Development 5

Mayor’s Office 6

City Clerk 7

Retirement System 11

Budget & Strategic Planning 12

CAO’s Office 13

City Auditor 15

Procurement Services 18

Animal Care & Control 22

CLASS II: 21-50 EMPLOYEES Hours below to begin being listed in the newsletters’ April edition

City Council 24

Economic/Community Development 32

City Attorney 35

City Assessor 36

Human Resources 39

Human Services 40

CLASS III: 51-100 EMPLOYEES Hours below to begin being listed in the newsletters’ April edition

Finance 69

Commonwealth’s Attorney 77

General Registrar 78

City Library 84

CLASS IV: 101-300 EMPLOYEES Hours below to begin being listed in the newsletters’ Arpil edition

Information Technology 102

Planning & Development Review 106

Public Health* 123

Justice Services 207

Parks, Recreation & Comm. Facilities 260

CLASS V: 301+ EMPLOYEES Hours below to begin being listed in the newsletters’ April edition

Public Works 420

Fire & Emergency Services 435

Sheriff and Jail 459

Social Services (including the ECDI) 472

Richmond Behavioral Health Authority** 497

Public Utilities 730

Police 955

TOTAL 5,510 Total hours to begin being listed in the newsletters’ April edition

*Class IV Note: Including Richmond City Health District (Public Health) 123 employees.

** Class V Note: Including Richmond Behavioral Health Authority’s 497 employees.

100,000

90,000

80,000

70,000

60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

Note 1: The groupings of de-

partments, per class, are based

on figures provided by DIT.

100,000 Service Hours The N2N Service Thermometer

below represents the City of

Richmond’s progress towards

reaching Mayor Jones’ goal of

100,000 service hours among

city agencies.

So are you ready to meet (and

even dare to exceed) Mayor

Jones’ Service Challenge?

Great! On your mark, get set,

SERVE!

100,000 Service Hour Challenge - Departments’ Monthly & Annual Totals

Mayor Jones’ 100,000 Service Hour Challenge

Page 3

Making a Difference on MLK Day

On January 16, 2012, several mem-bers of the AmeriCorps ACES pro-gram gathered together with one common goal—to make life a bit easier for Richmond’s homeless community. It was MLK Day and while some may have enjoyed the day sleeping in, running errands or visiting relatives, many others took this day as an opportunity to give back to their community. Desig-nated by Congress as a national day of service, volunteers nation-wide participated in various com-

munity service projects, living up to Dr. King’s vision of a “beloved community.” Such was the case for those of us, myself included, who participated in Homeless Care and Connect.

AmeriCorps members (l to r) George, Sonya, Trevon, Anthony, Richard, and Jamaal gather for a photo at the conclu-sion of the Homeless Care and Connect

Positive energy filled the atmosphere and smiling was contagious, as we all gathered to assemble care packages to be distributed to the homeless. The task proved to be a simple one as we organically formed our own “production line” if you will, stocking each package with items that were basic, yet essential. Upon completion of the project we were asked to write down what we planned to do to continue Dr. King’s legacy. Mine was simple, “Help decrease unemployment in my community.” It’s a daunt-ing task, but I am a firm believer that I will—one person at a time. So, have you given back to your community lately?

Just a fraction of the items that were included in gift packages that were distrib-uted to the homeless

Spotlight on AmeriCorps member, Terika McQuinn

My name is Terika McQuinn. I am a third year participant in the AmeriCorps ACES (Action for Community Enhancement Services) program. As a half-time Ameri-Corps member, I serve 900 hours within a year’s time. The majority of my hours will be served at the East District Family Resource Center located in the heart of Richmond’s Churchill community. My duties there include, but are not limited to helping patrons with employment

searches on the computer, drafting patrons’ resumes, and serving as an assistant instructor for the computer courses which were held last fall. I help students on various skill levels learn how to navigate through Mi-crosoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

In addition to my service at East District Family Resource

Center, I also volunteer at Bon Secours Richmond Com-

munity Hospital. I truly am grateful for the opportunity

to serve and give back to my community. As a volunteer

I have learned that getting paid is not as important as

helping someone who needs a helping hand. I believe

and I quote, "In life we all start with one seed, but if and

when we water our crop, the sun will shine upon a beau-

tiful spring garden.” Awaken each day & water your gar-

den! As an AmeriCorps member, I can and I will get

things done, not alone, but as a team! These are the

values that will stay with me beyond my service to

AmeriCorps!

Terika McQuinn shows off her charming smile.

As related to all of the departments within the City of Richmond working to achieve Mayor Jones’ goal of 100,000 Service Hours, the chart on page two will be included in each newsletter, tracking the City’s progress. The chart includes all city departments, seg-mented in classes based on their number of employees, indicating progressive service hours per month. It will also be posted on the N2N website and Starnet. Established with the purpose of building community, having fun, and adding a spice of competition, the departments with the most service hours at the end of the year will receive the Mayor’s Outstanding Departmental Service Award. The classes of departments will be divided as follows:

* Class I: 1-20 employees * Class II: 21-50 employees * Class III: 51-100 employees * Class IV: 101-300 employees * Class V: 301+ employees

{Note: The groupings of departments, per class, in the chart below are based on figures listed in the City of Richmond’s Starnet Directory}.

This strategy is called 3x3 because there are three categories of service (listed below) and a minimum goal of three service pro-jects per category. Annual N2N 3x3 Service Plans, per Department, will consist of:

3 Nationally-themed Service Projects

3 City Council-inspired Service Projects

3 High Impact Partnering Agency (HIPA) Service Projects [Note: N2N defines HIPAs as nonprofit and faith-based organizations with missions that align with the City’s goals]

The Annual 3x3 Service Projects will align with both the City’s Balanced Scorecard and the Human Services 10-Point Workplan:

Balanced Scorecard Human Services Workplan

1. Unique and Inclusive Neighborhoods 1. All children enter school ready to learn (Ages 0-5) 2. Community Safety and Well-Being 2. Children & youth succeed in school (Ages 5-18)

3. Education & Workforce Development 3. Children live in healthy, safe, and supportive families 4. Economic Development 4. Youth make successful transition to adulthood 5. Transportation Infrastructure 5. Youth choose healthy behaviors 6. Well-Managed Government 6. All residents have access to quality health care 7. Sustainability & Natural Environment 7. Families live in healthy, safe & supportive communities

8. Residents have opportunities for life-long learning 9. All families are economically self-sufficient 10. Elders & persons with disabilities are valued and live with dignity & independence

Classes of Departments

* Class I: 1-20 employees * Class II: 21-50 employees * Class III: 51-100 employees * Class IV: 101-300 employees * Class V: 300+ employees

Introducing the City-Wide N2N 3x3 Annual Service Strategy

The key strategy that N2N has developed to move the City towards accomplishing Mayor Jones’ goal of 100,000 Service Hours is referred to as the N2N 3x3 Annual Service Strategy.

N2N 3x3 Classes of City Departments

Council Districts Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sept Oct-Dec

1 I & V II & IV III IV

2 V II & V III IV

3 II & I III IV V

4 II & V III IV I & V

5 III IV V I & II

6 III IV I & V II & V

7 IV V I & V II & III

8 IV I & V II & IV III

9 V I & IV II & V III

As the City moves forward towards the success of the Mayor’s 100,000 service hour challenge, it will be essential for all City departments to “buy-in”. Thus, the identification and appointment of N2N Liaisons for each City Department and Agency.

N2N Liaisons are Director approved point-persons within each department who work in tandem with N2N for the success of their Departments’ Annual N2N 3x3 Service Plans. Their re-sponsibilities include:

Providing weekly reminders and verification of all staff members within their department to (1) register with N2N and (2) log weekly/monthly service hours (StarNet has a front page link under N2N to register and to log volunteer hours. Remember to SAVE your volunteer hours before exiting the system!)

Leading their departments’ internal project teams in creat-ing, organizing, and/or leading projects in alignment with their Annual N2N 3x3 Service Plan.

Assisting N2N with the City of Richmond's Annual N2N Ser-vice Recognition Ceremony (recognizing individuals, depart-ments, donors, etc.). Each month, total volunteer service hours reported per department (from the previous month) will be showcased in (1) The Mayor's Newsletter, (2) the N2N Newsletter, and (3) StarNet

Thank you N2N Liaisons! We salute you with four Hi-Fives! Below is the current list of N2N Liaisons.

Press Secretary to the Mayor Shelby Crouch

Mayor's Office Melissa Paige

CAO's Office Keith Rogers, Jr.

Human Services Ann-Marie Williams

Aging & Disabilities Yvette Jones

Breastfeeding Commission Carla Childs

Food Policy Task Force Debbie Hinton

Heatlhy Richmond Keisha Smith

HLO Juan Lizama

MYA TBD

N2N Jennifer Swinson

PBT Jakob Helmboldt

Human Resources Dorothy Orr

City Library Judy Lippy

Public Health* Alistria "Lisa" Jones

Justice Services Merna Wilson

Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Christy Everson

Public Works

Clean City Commission Darlene Mallory

Food Policy Task Force, TeamRVAGreen Community Garden Coordinator Victoria Campbell

Fire & Emergency Services Lauren Bonneville

Social Services April Steed

Richmond Behavorial Heath Authority (RBHA) Ginger Bower

Public Utilities

Paving (Dept. Dir. Of Tech Services: Rosemary Green) Jeannete Hall-Merritt

Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater (Dept. Dir.: Willie Horton) Lynette Allen

Police GiTonya Parker

N2N 3x3 Liaisons